Edith Mae Wright

Burial will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, August, 4 2011 at Indian Gap Cemetery, followed by a memorial service at Riley Funeral Home at 11 a.m. with Rev. Tim Moody and Rev. Ellis Dean officiating.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at the Riley Funeral Home.

Edith was born Jan. 28, 1919 in Indian Gap to O.K. and Nancy Harris Barker.

She was a 1935 graduate of Hamilton High School and earned a teaching certificate from John Tarleton College when she was 18. She taught at Vista Mountain and Shive schools, later attending Daniel Baker College to earn a Bachelors degree.

She married Glover C. Wright on December 23, 1939 in Hamilton. When he entered the Navy at the start of WWII, she held civilian jobs in Norfolk, Va. and Patuxent River, Md. where he was based.

The couple lived and taught in Merkel, Roby, Abilene, Whiteface and San Angelo. During this period, she earned her Masters of Library Science degree from Texas Woman's University.

Edith and Glover moved to Odessa in 1959 and she became head librarian at Ector and Permian High Schools. In 1974, she was named the first Dean of the new Murray H. Fly Learning Resources Center at Odessa College where she was instrumental in establishing the nursing program as well as other educational programs in the College System.

Upon retirement, they returned to Hamilton County, constructing a home on the Leon River. But Edith came out of retirement soon afterward to accept a position as "traveling librarian" for Region 12 out of Waco, operating school libraries in Hico, Pottsville, Mullin, Star and Priddy.

She was a member of First Baptist Church of Hamilton and served on the Hamilton County Appraisal Board. She was an avid reader and in her later years, she wrote a children's book called "Friends" for her first great-granddaughter, Maggie Terry.

Edith was preceded in death by her husband on October 23, 1990.

Survivors include her son, John Wright of Hamilton; a daughter, Karen Wright of Dublin; two grandchildren and their families, David and Page Wright of Hamilton, Sawyer and Kelton; and Sarena and Jim Terry, Maggie and Abagale, of Sterling City; a sister and brother-in-law, Doris and Coy Dean, and their children and their families, Ellis and Cindy Dean, Maci and Ammi, and Curtis and Karen Dean, Jake and Jessica, all of Lubbock.

Pallbearers are Glen Lawson, Randy Lawson, Steve Kavanaugh, Dannis Lozano, Michael Mims, Kelvin Swindle and Richard Wheeler. Honorary Pallbearers are Joe Brosig, Jim Crouch, Danny Geraci, Pat Hendon, Earl Kavanaugh, David Lengefeld, Dr. David L. Sharkey, and Capt. James Wright.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Hamilton Public Library or a charity of choice.